Anglesey schoolboy Max Peters narrowly missed out on a major national powerboating title, but still came away with one of the top prizes at the 2009 Honda RYA Youth RIB championship.
Peters, from Holyhead Sailing Club, had never raced a RIB before this year but went to the PSP Southampton Boat Show as the Welsh champion to take on much more experienced rivals in the event aimed at encouraging Welsh youngsters to take up powerboating in a safe and supervised environment.
The 12-year-old from Rhosgoch was third out of fifteen competitors from around Britain, with Steven Curtis from the Eastern region of England winning the event for the second year running.
Peters has been involved in sailing all his life and helped out at Holyhead by doing safety boat duty in a RIB boat, but had never competed before until his club secretary recommended entering this competition.
In the 8-12 age group, Peters skilfully manoeuvred around a tricky and testing course which included a slalom run, 360O reverse around a buoy and a man over board test, in an impressive time.
First prize may have been a 4.8m Ribcraft RIB powerboat with a 50hp Honda four stroke engine complete with an Indespension trailer and Icom IC-M505 VHF radio - one complete RIB package for each class.
However third place won Peters a remote control helicopter, thanks to Honda, and £50 from Ribcraft.
Handing out the certificates to competitors was local Galaxy FM DJ and keen powerboater Ben Glover who had a go at the course himself. He commented: "The kids were fantastic and I wish there had been a great completion like this when I was their age. I'm absolutely rubbish at reversing (in a boat that is) so I found the course quite challenging but I got the prize for collecting the most water whilst reversing - so everyone's a winner!"
RYA's Deputy Chairman Tom Blackburn, congratulated every competitor for making it to the finals: "To have qualified for the finals is a great success. Going fast is easy but it's the close quarter handling that is the difficult bit and that's what the championship tests - the skill I witness out on the race course was tremendous especially at such a young age." Thanks were given to the individuals who support the kids namely family members, clubs and instructors.
Steve Morrison, Sales Director for Honda Marine UK, who presented the awards said: "I think it's safe to say that the standard out on the water has been the best ever. All the competitors demonstrated fantastic skill, my congratulations to them all. Each and every competitor should be extremely proud of their achievements.
"The championship is a great way for kids to get in to boating in a fun and safe environment, both of which are important values of Honda."
Honda also announced their continued sponsorship of the championship for 2010.
Now in its eighth year the Honda RYA Youth RIB challenge allows youngsters to demonstrate their skills as expert boat handlers and improve their skills in a safe, controlled environment. To ensure safety at all times each child is accompanied in the RIB by a competent adult/instructor.
Special thanks go to Championship sponsors Honda, Ribcraft, ICOM and Indespension Trailers.
For more information about the Honda RYA Youth RIB Championship, details on how to get involved and a list of results visit www.rya.org.uk and click on the youth section.
Image credit:
Andrew Green www.fotoboat.com
For further media information:
Hamish Stuart,
RYA Wales regional communicator
Tel: 07914 873451
Email: Hamish@score-media.co.uk